In Venus, an acclaimed play by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, she is seen as all these and more. Venus will be performed at HSU during just one week, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 8.
The character of Venus is based on a real historical figure, Saartjie (Sarah) Baartman, the most celebrated of several women from the Khoisan peoples in South Africa who were exhibited in Europe in the early 19th century as “Venus Hottentot.”
In this play, Venus (played by Eboni Session) is exhibited in England by the “Mother Showman” (Shannon Bass). She is taken to Paris by the “Baron Docteur” (Zach Scott) who wants to study her, but is also in love with her. Eventually she meets the “Negro Resurrectionist” (Robert Davis), who in the past made his living by digging up graves to supply scientists with corpses, but as her jailer in France, gets to know Venus and wants to protect her.
The cast also includes a Chorus that plays various roles in the action: freaks in the show, audience members, the French scientists who study Venus, and jurors in a British court deciding whether Venus is being exploited. Members of the chorus are played by Juan Carlos Contreras, William Irvine, Rose Gutierrez Jimenez, Keili Simmons Marble, Lindsay Smalley and Chanel Washington.
Though Parks tells her story in unusual ways, with elements of ritual and an antic humor, “it’s a pretty clear play,” says director Jean O’Hara. “It’s very poetic and rhythmic, it’s fast-moving and she uses repetition in the way music or dance does, but it’s really clear what’s going on. You never lose sight that this is a real human being living a life.”
Part of that human core is the character of Venus, who refuses to be only a victim of oppression and exploitation. “Black women have always resisted—that’s a really big theme for me,” O’Hara said. “Venus does resist—she does the best she can within her circumstances.”
“Parks definitely breaks some rules,” O’Hara notes, “but it’s more exciting that way. I’m adding to that as a director, with things like projected images that suggest contemporary relevance. It’s not the average play you’ll see in Humboldt County. It’s hard-hitting and meant to be uncomfortable at times. It should generate some revealing dialogue within the audience.”
That’s been the case with performances elsewhere. “It stimulates a lot of conversation,” notes playwright Parks. “For people who do the play and who see a production of the play, it’s very moving.”
Since the play deals with oppression and persistent stereotypes within the black experience, it is especially fitting as a production during Black Liberation Month, O’Hara feels.
Venus is slated for five performances during one week only: Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 8-11 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. in the Gist Hall Theatre on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $10/$8 with a limited number of free seats to HSU students at each performance, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door. Directed by Jean O’Hara, produced by HSU Department of Theatre, Film & Dance. HSUStage.blogspot.com.